Fire Chief Joe Boney said the man was standing or sitting on the back of a pickup truck, fell off, and the rebar pierced his body.

The Gulf Coast Carnival Association parade was halted so that an ambulance could get to the man.

The man's name was not available. Boney estimated he was in his early 20s.

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3:40 p.m.

Authorities in Gulf Shores, Alabama, are trying to determine why an SUV driven by a 73-year-old man accelerated and hit members of a high school band at the start of a Mardi Gras parade.

Tuesday morning's accident injured 12 students. At a news conference, city spokesman Grand Brown said three were in critical but stable condition as of Tuesday afternoon. Police Chief Ed Delmore said investigators have obtained a search warrant for the vehicle. They hope to get electronic data from the 2008 Ford Expedition. Investigators also were looking at video of the accident.

Officials said the driver is cooperating with authorities and there is no indication drugs or alcohol were involved.

Brown said the band was at the head of the parade and the SUV was staged behind the band.

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This story has been corrected to show the age of the man involved in the crash is 73, not 72.

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2:35 p.m.

A national organization for military officers says one of its chapters was involved in a crash that injured a dozen young people during a Mardi Gras parade on the Alabama coast.

Jonathan Withington of the Virginia-based Military Officers Association of America says a vehicle representing its Baldwin County branch was part of what authorities are calling a horrible accident during the Gulf Shores parade on Fat Tuesday. Officials say four of the injured are in critical condition.

Photos from the scene show a large sport-utility vehicle decorated with a banner from the military association. Withington says he doesn't know who was driving or exactly what the vehicle was doing in the area.

Authorities have said a 73-year-old man from Fairhope was driving as part of the parade when the vehicle lurched forward and struck members of the Gulf Shores High School marching band from the rear.

Police say the driver is cooperating with authorities, and there are no signs that alcohol or drugs are involved.

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1:45 p.m.

Revelry turned to horror on the Alabama coast when a vehicle driven by an elderly man slammed into a high school band marching in a Mardi Gras parade on Fat Tuesday.

A flute and shoes were left lying on a highway following the crash Tuesday in the beach town of Gulf Shores, where authorities say four victims are critically injured and eight others have less-severe injuries.

Video and photos from the scene show emergency workers helping injured members of the Gulf Shores High School band as onlookers wearing Mardi Gras colors looked on. A man who works at a nearby automotive shop, James Reeves, describes the aftermath as "chaos." He says rescue teams did a great job dealing with the horrible scene.

Authorities say a 73-year-old man who was driving a vehicle in the parade plowed into the band from behind. The annual parade was canceled immediately as firefighters and other emergency workers turned from parade participants into caregivers.

Officials say there's no indication of drugs or alcohol being involved, and they're calling the crash a horrible accident.

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12:10 p.m.

Authorities say an elderly driver slammed into a marching band during a Mardi Gras parade on the Alabama coast, critically injuring four young people and leaving eight with less-severe injuries.

Officials with the city of Gulf Shores told a news conference they don't believe the crash Tuesday morning was anything other than an accident.

City spokesman Grant Brown says the band from Gulf Shores High School had just entered the parade route for Fat Tuesday when a vehicle behind the group lurched forward into the group.

Brown says the vehicle struck multiple people, injuring 12 in all. He says the victims ranged in age from 12 to 17.

Authorities identified the driver only as a 73-year-old man from nearby Fairhope. Police say they're looking into reports that the man was driving a large sport-utility vehicle with a banner on the side.

Details on the most severe injuries weren't immediately available. The parade was canceled after the crash.

Video and photos from the scene show emergency workers helping the injured on the main highway running toward the beach.

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11:53 a.m.

Boston-native Jennifer Phan was thrilled to be at her first Mardi Gras, carrying a stalk of sunflowers nearly as tall as she was to ensure she and her tall boyfriend could find each other.

"I get lost in the crowds," she explained.

A passing stranger stopped to show her another use, lifting it in her hands high.

He told her, "Hold it higher and use it to catch the beads."

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11:23 a.m.

Police in the Alabama beach town of Gulf Shores say a car participating in the city's Fat Tuesday parade accidentally plowed into a band, leaving three young people in critical condition and eight others with less-severe injuries.

City spokesman Grant Brown tells The Associated Press that the band had just entered the parade route Tuesday morning when a car behind the group lurched forward into the group.

Brown says there is no indication the crash was anything other than what he calls a "horrific accident." Brown says he's not sure whether the band was from a school in Gulf Shores or elsewhere.

Video and photos from the scene show emergency workers helping the injured on the main highway running toward the beach.

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11:20 a.m.

Candace Crawford, a New Yorker who has lived in New Orleans for three years, wore bright leggings and a black shawl from which a grinning skull nestled against her left cheek.

Skeleton hands emerged as if one arm was around her neck and the outer at her waist.

"This is my little skull and bones guardian, and this is his little friend, "she said, while pointing to a skull near her waist. "Everyone's so colorful at Mardi Gras. I said, 'Oh. I'm going to darken it up."

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11 a.m.

Although clarinetist Pete Fountain died last year, Pete Fountain's Half-Fast Walking Club strutted from Commander's Palace restaurant to the French Quarter on Tuesday, tossing beads and doubloons to recordings of his music.

A banner bore a photo of Fountain showing his eyes closed and hands folded in prayer.

That was the only solemn note. Club members were decked out from hat to shoes in nearly fluorescent spring green.

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10:30 a.m.

The sidewalk along St. Charles Avenue near Canal Street barely had room for pedestrians. Either there were two rows of chairs or a row of chairs and ladder seats for small children with ice chests and portable benches along a building wall.

Elaine Thomson of Silver Spring, Maryland, in a group of eight, says she'd been there since 7 a.m. Tuesday. The 48-year-old Thomson's group included two "Mardi Gras virgins" whom she'd met during Day's Bacchus parade.

Melinda Zetrouer (ZET'-roh-uhr), whose chair was in front of Thomson's, had arrived at 5:45 a.m. and got the last four front-row spots.

The 56-year-old Zetrouer said she couldn't count the years since her parents began taking her to parades rather than dropping her off at her grandfather's house.

Thomson says, "This is my 23rd Mardi Gras. Every year they do it bigger and better."

She says she'd go back to her hotel after the Rex parade if she could get across the street. She wasn't sure whether she'd be able to do so before the truck parades began.

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10 a.m.

Costumes, costumes and more costumes.

And the costumes and creativity were on display Tuesday as hundreds of people gathered in the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans for the St. Anne's parade.

Gabrielle Begue describes her costume as "shrubs, greens, topiary" although she conceded that the leaves festooned around her body were a bit unruly to be called topiary.

Begue and her husband, Erik Winkowski, were dressed as what could best be described as large bushes put together with fake ivy and the liberal use of a glue gun.

Begue said with all of the year's heated political commentary they wanted outfits that were "full whimsical."

The St. Anne's parade is a walking parade that goes from the Bywater and Marigny neighborhoods into the French Quarter and features people wearing an eclectic mix of homemade costumes.

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9:501 a.m.

Jim Segreto of New Orleans was a photo magnet with his Trump's wall costume: blue sateen pants, an Uncle Sam hat and a cardboard box marked with black lines for cinderblocks.